Half of Canadian Homeowners Plan to Renovate

It’s the season of home renovations and according to the Scotiabank Mortgage Landscape Study, 46 per cent of Alberta homeowners are planning significant renovations to their home in the next two years.

Albertans are the second most likely of all Canadian homeowners to have a major reno project planned, ranking only behind the Atlantic provinces where 47 per cent of homeowners planned to renovate.

The majority of all Canadian homeowners planning to renovate (93 per cent) said they knew how they finance their project, with the top financing sources being cash savings (62 per cent) and a line of credit (29 per cent).

The top rooms Canadian homeowners say they would most like to renovate were kitchens (33 per cent), followed by bathrooms (16 per cent) and basements (16 per cent).

“From painting a room to replacing your kitchen, financing a renovation should be based on your goals with budget and timeline being key to the whole process,” said David Stafford, managing director of Real Estate Secured Lending at Scotiabank. “The top three things to remember are understand what you can afford, have a budget and stick to your plan.”